The invention concerns a panel having a panel top side and a panel underside and at least two mutually opposite panel edges, of which one panel edge has a simple rabbet which projects in the lower region of the panel edge and is set back in the upper region and of which the opposite panel edge has a complementary simple rabbet which projects in the upper region of the panel edge and is set back in the lower region so that the two rabbets in the connected condition together form a stepped connection, wherein the panel edges at the panel top side respectively have an edge break which in turn in the connected condition together form a join in a floor surface.
Panels of that kind are used for example as floor panels. Panels of that general kind are generally secured together by adhesive at the panel edges and/or are adhesively secured to the substrate on which they are arranged. The mutually opposite panel edges of a panel are complementary to each other. In principle they can be joined together when the panel is cut. When laying panels it is usual for the last panel at the end of a row of panels to be shortened if required if the space is not sufficient to fit the entire panel.
Because panels of that kind have a simple rabbet they are rarely used for floatingly laid floors. Substrates for floor coverings often have irregularities to which a floor covering must adapt or compensate for same. In addition a floatingly laid floor can also involve the possibility that the floor covering which is assembled from panels virtually to form a sheet can expand or contract by virtue of temperature and moisture influences.
Floor panels which are not of the general kind set forth above frequently have panel edges which provide a positively locking action in order to be able to transmit holding forces from one floor panel into an adjacent panel connected thereto in a horizontal direction, and also to be able to transmit holding forces perpendicularly to the plane of the floor covering. In that way a floatingly laid floor covering sheet can expand and also generally contract again in respect of its area without gaps or heightwise displacement occurring between the panel edges of the individual floor panels.